Hopes Fade of Kim Rewriting North's Script

North Korean Leader Sticks to His Father's Pattern of Escalating Threats; Tensions Serve to Boost His Authority at Home

By

Alastair Gale and

Yuka Hayashi

March 28, 2013 7:34 p.m. ET

SEOUL—North Korea's recent run of provocations appears to be bolstering the authority of its young leader, Kim Jong Eun, at home, while further eroding hopes outside the country that he would depart from the blueprint the country followed under his father.

A series of menacing actions has unsettled Western leaders and raised fears of fresh military conflicts on the Korean peninsula, while the heightened tensions feed the North's...